LISTEN TO: NICO

'Chelsea Girl' (1967)

'I still cannot listen to it, because everything I wanted for that record, they took it away. I asked for drums, they said no. I asked for more guitars, they said no. And I asked for simplicity, and they covered it in flutes! [...] They added strings and – I didn't like them, but I could live with them. But the flute! The first time I heard the album, I cried and it was all because of the flute.' - Nico 1981

Nevertheless, it's such a beautiful album! 'Chelsea Girl' (1967) finds ur-goth Nico - one of pop’s most compelling figures - plagued by darkness and hopelessness, delivering heartbreaking teutonic folk goodness at it's best. Or as Morrissey puts it: "If Nico could've laughed, she would've. But she couldn't, so she didn't."

Photo: Nico at Lampeter University - November 1985 (© GanMed64)